“The fossil find of the century—the first dinosaur with feathers,
a possible fore-runner to flying birds—has reportedly been discovered
in China.”

“This fossil, found in Liaoning province, has been radiometrically
dated to the early Cretaceous, allegedly 135 million years ago.”

We need to wait and
see the scientific paper, if and when it is published. In
particular, let's wait until the “feathers” are confirmed. Keep in mind
the following points:

How many other
fossils have been sensationally called “fossils of the century”? Remember
Piltdown Man (a hoax), Nebraska Man (a pig's tooth).

The atheist Dr Alex Ritchie,
a paleontologist at the Australian Museum and a fanatical anti-creationist,
claims that “dinosaurs developed feathers for insulation and later evolved
and refined them for flight purposes”. This is a vacuous statement;
the “facts” that feathers are good for insulation and flight are asserted
to “confirm” the “hypothesis” that they evolved to get that way.

Dr Ritchie fails
to explain “how” they could have evolved — scales are folds in skin;
feathers are complex structures with a barb, barbules, and hooks. They
also originate in a totally different way from follicles inside the
skin. Their embryonic development is different, as well. There has been
no report yet of a fossil showing scales turning into feathers or a
leg turning into a wing.

He also fails
to realize that selection for heat insulation is quite different
from selection for flight. The best insulators are downy feathers,
which lack the special hooks which make flight feathers rigid. Also,
flightless birds have very hair-like feathers. Thus, selection would
work against the acquisition of hooks since imperfectly hooked
feathers would be less efficient insulators without the compensation
of being good for flying.

This fossil cannot
be an ancestor of birds, since Archaeopteryx, a true bird with fully
formed flight feathers and a wishbone, is dated by evolutionists at
15 million years before this fossil.

There are many
dating methods which give an age for the whole earth far too young for
evolutionary scenarios. (See John Morris, The Young Earth, and
Young
World Evidence).

In
summary

Consider the lack
of transitional forms between feathers and scales

Consider how much
more complicated feathers are than scales

Consider how the
best heat-insulating feathers are downy ones which lack the hooks needed
to make flight feathers

Consider how Archeopteryx
had fully developed flight feathers, yet is 15 million years older according
to evolutionists

And that feathers
develop from follicles; scales develop from folds in the skin

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Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively. We focus on providing answers to questions about the Bible—particularly the book of Genesis—regarding key issues such as creation, evolution, science, and the age of the earth.